


where you belong

by verity



Series: bedtime stories [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Aunt-Niece Relationship, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 05:38:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verity/pseuds/verity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate tells Allison a bedtime story. Part 1 of 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	where you belong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Butterfly_Beat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly_Beat/gifts).



Sometimes, Allison dreams about monsters.

—

Before she leaves her room, she puts on slippers: the cool tile of the hallway is refreshing during the day, but it feels like ice at night. The walk from her room to Mom and Dad feels long. She finds them in the dining room, standing over the table, papers spread out over its gleaming oak surface. Dad looks tired and Mom looks angry, which happens a lot since they moved to LA. When Dad looks up at Allison, though, his face softens. "Bad dream, honey?"

"Yeah," she says. "Can I have milk?"

"Sure thing," he says. "Vic—"

"—it can wait," her mom says. She sets down the stapled pages she's leafing through to come around the dining table, bends down to kiss Allison on the cheek. "What did you dream about?"

Allison ducks her head. She'd hide behind her hair, but Mom braided it before bed into two neat plaits that brush against her neck as she stares at the floor. "Milk?"

Dad comes over, puts his warm hand on her shoulder. "Sounds scary," he says. "I've always been kind of afraid of milk myself."

In the kitchen, Dad puts a mug of milk into the microwave, and Allison watches it spin around inside, bright behind the honeycombed grid. Grandpa Argent told her she shouldn't stand in front of the microwave while it was on, but Dad said that wasn't true when Allison asked him. She still doesn't like it, the way Dad stands right in front, tapping his fingers on the counter. He turns, green numbers counting down behind him, smiles at her. "You want me to read to you before bed?"

"Maybe," Allison says. She doesn't want to be a baby—she's five now, can write her name and everything, it's on the fridge. In the bright kitchen, her fear seems silly.

The door to the garage swings open, catches against the spring so it doesn't slam into the counter. When she was little, Allison always liked playing with those, pushing them back and forth, watching as they swung and vibrated back to attention. This one trembles when the door pulls away. "I've got some—" her aunt Kate says, swinging a backpack off her shoulder. She catches sight of Allison and comes up short. "Hey, Allison, you're up late."

"Had a nightmare," Dad says. The microwave dings. He takes the mug—it's the two-handled one with Peter Rabbit on the side, from Grandma Mercy—and hands it to Allison. "Go check in with Victoria, she's been waiting on you."

Kate's taking the ponytail holder out of her hair, shaking it down, loose around her shoulders. She combs through the honey-blonde waves with her fingers. "Sure," she says. "Or—you want a bedtime story, babydoll? Always got time for you."

Allison takes a sip of her milk—this microwave heats it funny, the first sip is always too hot and the middle too cool—and thinks about. "Yeah," she says after moment. "I want a story."

Kate and Dad exchange glances before Kate looks down at the backpack she dropped on the floor. "You guys can take care of that, right? Gotta see my favorite niece before I jet."

"I'm your only niece," Allison reminds her.

"She knows," Dad says, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder again. "Go ahead, Kate."

Aunt Kate comes over and takes Allison's hand. "Let's go, sweetie," she says. "Time to get you back to dreamland where you belong."

  


  
  
[(source)](http://www.sxc.hu/photo/182564)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [where you belong (the bedtime story remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4489269) by [LadySilver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySilver/pseuds/LadySilver)




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